The Safekeep

The Safekeep is Yael van der Wouden’s debut novel and has received widespread critical acclaim. Most notably, it was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, with the prize’s jury describing the book as “a remarkable debut about obsession and loss […] The author draws us into a world as carefully calibrated as a Dutch still-life” (“The Safekeep.” The Booker Prizes). The New York Times wrote, “The story is resolved in such a bold and tender way that it becomes not merely clever, but indelible” (Soderlind, Lori. “An Erotic Story of Love and Obsession in 1960s Amsterdam.” The New York Times, 25 May 2024). As that review suggests, much of the praise for the book is directed toward its third part, which resolves the mystery of Eva’s identity and her presence at the house in a dramatic, poetic fashion. 

Other reviews pay closer attention to the book’s romantic and erotic components. The Michigan Daily calls it “a masterful take on the literary Queer romance,” comparing it to James Baldwin’s seminal works Giovanni’s Room and Another Country (Hetzler, Alex. “Booker Prize 2024: ‘The Safekeep’ Puts the Erotic in Neurotic.